Stepping back to look at nurse-midwifery in NM

Opening in 1944, in response to a request from the Catholic archbishop of Santa Fe who had noticed an alarmingly high infant mortality rate in his area, the Catholic Maternity Institute operated for about 25 years. This tribute and account has been compiled by one of its earliest staff members. In addition to her own recollections, Kroska has gathered memoirs from about two dozen of her sister midwives. It is a remarkable and often lively story.

"My Friend Kate Is a Forest Ranger" by Betty Fulcomer (PublishAmerica, $24.95).

Intended as an introduction to a U.S. Forest Service career, this attractive book provides good photographs and accessible information about what it involves and what it takes. Kate is a district ranger in the Heber Ranger Station in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest.

"Presidio San Agustin del Tucson: A View of Early Tucson" compiled by Dorothy N. Yanez (Tucson Presidio Trust for Historic Preservation, $19.95).

The timeline here is from 13,000 years ago when mammoths roamed to 2005 when Rio Nuevo funds made it possible to "re-create" the northeast corner of the old Presidio. While fairly pedestrian itself, it supplies a good recommended reading list for further study.

"Dry River: Stories of Life, Death, and Redemption on the Santa Cruz" by Ken Lamberton (University of Arizona Press, $24.95 ).

Lamberton, one of University of Arizona Regents Professor Richard Shelton's creative-writing finds, rambles up and down the 200-mile Santa Cruz River with family and friends. He mixes history with biology, archaeology and ethnology as well as personal observations of the river's past and present. There is a useful index allowing readers to dip in and out as well as a bibliography of sources for additional reading.

"My Rookie Memoir: A Father's Legacy" by Brian Parker (self-published, $14.99).

Raised in a military family, serving in both the Pima County Sheriff's Department and the Tucson Police Department, Parker, now with nine years before possible retirement, has lots of stories to tell about coming of age in local law enforcement.

"Fracture" by Susan Cummins Miller (Texas Tech University Press, $24.95)

In her fifth outing, geologist Francesca "Frankie" MacFarlane hires on as her globe-trotting PI lover Philo Dain's assistant. But, as the pair tries to track down some valuable missing coins and solve a murder, new fault lines appear for Frankie to deal with - these of the human persuasion. Miller has become a member of Tucson's successful group of mystery writers that includes Elizabeth Gunn, J.M. Hayes and, of course, the venerable J.A. Jance.

"Will Work 4 Food" by R.S. Hunter (Amethyst Moon Publishing, $16.95).

Hunter worked with several of Tucson's primary-care providers for homeless men and women, including Primavera, Casa Maria Soup Kitchen and the Gospel Rescue Mission. He records interviews with professionals in the field as well as 15 homeless persons. He supplies statistics. For whatever it lacks in polish or professional savvy, "Will Work 4 Food" provides a conscientious look at the community's poorest and least understood residents.

"A New American Family: A Love Story" by Peter Likins (University of Arizona Press, $29.95).

Former UA President Likins (1997-2006) is one of the very few (if not the only) UA president who introduced himself to the student body by lifting a cheerleader onto his shoulders. In this engrossing memoir, Likins recounts the tribulations and rewards of being the father of a multiracial family of six adopted children as well as his life in academia. He gives unfailing credit to his remarkable wife, Pat.

The family will be featured next Sunday in the Star's ¡Vamos! section.

"The Other Side of the Mountain: The Life and Times of Tom and Gertrude Gardner - Pioneers in Earliest Southern Arizona" by Tom Wood and Joan Kane Wood (Tom Wood Books, $10.95).

An absorbing pioneer tale written by a Gardner great-granddaughter and her husband who identify it as an "historical novel." But Bruce Dinges, editor of the Arizona Historical Society's Journal of Arizona History, reviewing it in his column, "Booknotes," wrote: "The facts of the Gardners' lives - Apache troubles, mining and freighting enterprises, and brushes with the famous and infamous personalities in Arizona's early territorial history - by and large ring true."

"The HOA Murders" by Leon Robertson (Lulu.com, $19.95 print, $5.95, Kindle).

Green Valley resident Robertson gets a lot off his chest - political and philosophical - in this brisk account of life in a Green Valley subdivision called "Fantasia." Bright people with bad grammar don't seem to have enough to do so they use their homeowners association as an outlet for energies - which in this case leads to two murders. Readers may also wind up being careful about what they eat at potlucks.

"?#@*&%!! Some Things Really Were Better in the 1950s" by Lou Johnson (Beaver's Pond Press, $13.95).

Johnson, 74, who defines himself as a professional musician, has been married three times, is a father, stepfather and grandfather, has worked as a traveling salesman, an entertainment booking agent and an ad copywriter - among other things. He is intellectually curious and funny, and if you are in your "golden years" you will probably find more in the 43 topics on which he opines to agree with than not. He quotes Daniel Moynihan, "Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts."

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